Peek-a-Book Rare Books has been in business since the summer of 2024. As far as we know, we are the only specialists in documents related to the history of South Asian immigrants to the United States, focusing on their appearance in print since the late nineteenth century. We also collect documents attesting to Western interest in India and Southeast Asia, with a focus on documents attesting to the influence Asian religions had on spiritually inclined Westerners. In addition, we have a growing collection of documents related to the involvement of racial minoritities in the history of sexuality in the United States.
Behind the Books
A two-person operation, Peek-a-Book Rare Books is based in Lewiston, Maine, and proudly owned by a second-generation Indian American, Pico Banerjee. Having been employed by bookstores and antiquarian bookdealers since high school, Pico is a lifelong lover of stories, rabbit-holes, and all things intriguing. He is a graduate of Bates College, where he majored in English and Philosophy, and wrote two year-long studies of the transgressive French authors Georges Bataille and the Marquis de Sade. Currently, he is employed by an ABAA dealer from whom he continues to learn good bookinese, and is pursuing a Masters in Library Science at Simmons University.
While Pico sources and catalogs, the photographer, image-maker, and shipping czar of the operation is Katie Courser. She is a graduate of MECA&D, a painter, and currently teaches kids in Maine how to have fun making art. Her work can be found here: Katie Courser [dot] com.
